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Social Justice

Decolonizing Art

Decolonizing Art

by Vy Vu

Audre Lorde once said: “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” This is why we constantly have to learn the process of decolonizing our body and our tools.

Seeking Reconciliation after “Cultural Genocide”

Seeking Reconciliation after “Cultural Genocide”

by William Rees

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015) recently defined reconciliation as “establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples.”

Operation Ezra - Turning the Tide on Yazidi Genocide

Operation Ezra - Turning the Tide on Yazidi Genocide

by Operation Ezra Team

Fifty-five Yazidi men, women, and children are learning English, going to school, working, playing, feeling safe and secure, and freely celebrating their faith and culture in their new home of Winnipeg.

Religious Bullying: Perspectives from Canada

Religious Bullying: Perspectives from Canada

by W. Y. Alice Chan

In early 2011, two startling events happened in my life. Personally, my father unexpectedly passed away at the age of 59. Professionally as a middle school teacher, I encountered religious bullying for the first time.

Reimagining Interfaith Narratives

Reimagining Interfaith Narratives

by Aaron Stauffer

Good organizers consistently emphasize the importance of leaders “understanding” and “working” on their stories. When they are first getting to know a leader, they ask questions like: What keeps you up at night?

Reimagining the "White Man's Burden"

Reimagining the "White Man's Burden"

by Maha Elgenaidi

After decades of leading a national nonprofit that counters bigotry through education, I am now firmly convinced that we need new partners to overcome racism, Islamophobia, and exclusivist thinking in our nation.

An Artist's Journey Beyond the Walls of Division

An Artist's Journey Beyond the Walls of Division

by Andre van Zijl

We enter a completely darkened room which is set up with a foot-wide border of white muslin covered by unlit candles alternating with round black river stones.

Igniting the Sacred Power of the Arts for Social Change

Igniting the Sacred Power of the Arts for Social Change

Interview of Ahmane' Glover and Erik W. Martínez Resly by Eleanor Goldfield

Justice, at its roots, is painful. We are moving through an unjust world. And we have been moving through an unjust world for generations and generations. Now it’s just up, pulsing at the surface.

A Surprising Surge of Hope

A Surprising Surge of Hope

Paul Brandeis Raushenbush

On November 8, 2016 an already divided America was further fractured. For many of us who are working to make America a more welcoming, just, and inclusive nation – to make the America that never was, but that we pray must someday be...

What do Clothes Tell Us?

What do Clothes Tell Us?

by Marcus Braybrooke

The vicar of the parish where I was a curate always wore a cassock. He said it was “the only classless garment.” He did not wish to be identified with either the wealthy or poorer members of the parish. I had not at the time realised how quickly people form an opinion of you by what you wear.

A Trail of Thorns

A Trail of Thorns

by Jim Burklo

Each spring break, I lead a group of University of Southern California students down to “baja Arizona” for a week to experience the humanitarian realities along the U.S. side of the border with Mexico. We meet with progressive Christian activists.

Where We've Been – Where We're Going

Where We've Been – Where We're Going

by Katherine Marshall

Exploring the interfaith landscape drives home the dynamism and complexity of the array of formal organizations, initiatives, and largely unstructured efforts that fall under a loose interfaith rubric. They come in all sizes and shapes and touch on virtually every area of human endeavor.

Interfaith Activism – A Giant Awakening

Interfaith Activism – A Giant Awakening

by Ruth Broyde Sharone

We are witnessing an awakening in the interfaith movement across the United States unlike anything we have seen since Civil Rights marches 50 years ago. This awakening seems to have surfaced as a direct result of the presidential election and in response to new policies and measures initiated by President Trump in his first 30 days in office.

Religious Leaders Agree to Resistance Agenda

Religious Leaders Agree to Resistance Agenda

by Bud Heckman

It is an understatement to say that America is in a very tense political situation. The rabble rousing of the political cycle and unpredicted election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States have brought to the forefront very difficult public discussions and challenging situations. 

The Underside of the Food Chain

The Underside of the Food Chain

by Vicki Garlock

Potlucks. Catered events. Happy hours. Home-cooked family dinners. Farm-to-table menus. Carry-out eateries. Fine dining establishments. Many of us enjoy a cornucopia of food options on a regular basis. We can also testify to the social nature of eating with others. I am reminded of a conversation with a friend when discussing her first silent Zen retreat. “It’s was really amazing, but I found mealtimes difficult.

Sustainable Food and Faith

Sustainable Food and Faith

by Janet McGarry

The Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative (ISFC) is a nonprofit organization working in California’s Sonoma and Marin Counties. It gathers clergy and lay-people for monthly roundtable discussions about food and faith. In June 2014, members of Lutheran, Quaker, Congregational, Methodist, Seventh Day Adventist, Episcopal, and Catholic congregations met at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Rosa, California to learn how their congregations could buy food directly from farmers...

The Ten Commandments of Food

The Ten Commandments of Food

a TIO Report

Religions East and West, conservative and progressive, ancient and new, almost always express their concern for the disinherited, particularly for the hungry. As an ancient Hebrew proverb says, “Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.” (Proverbs 28:27) Yet despite the injunction and an abundance of food grown on Earth each year, the hunger statistics today are staggering.

Ethics in the Swamp: the Rot of Corruption

Ethics in the Swamp: the Rot of Corruption

by Katherine Marshall

Corruption is a live topic today. Since 2005, international anti-corruption day has been “celebrated” on December 9, in hopes that a visible day marking the topic can raise awareness about corruption and bolster a sense that something can be done to combat and prevent it. 

Ruminations on Em-Powerment

Ruminations on Em-Powerment

by Frederica Helmiere

After my second child was born, I found myself yearning for a hearty dose of vocational discernment. Perhaps it was the presence of this new little life in our home that compelled me to reassess my own life’s calling, or perhaps it was a general growing dissatisfaction with my work that I could no longer ignore.

Praying our Way towards Justice at Standing Rock

Praying our Way towards Justice at Standing Rock

by Frederica Helmiere

Oceti Sakowin Camp is a place of juxtapositions and marvels. Tribal leaders ceremonially sing and drum near the sacred fire while helicopters chop and drones buzz overhead. Ten thousand peaceful and prayerful water protectors abut a militarized police force of extractive corporation-protectors.